(Life is) A pile of good things and bad things
by dancer4813
Summary: She remembered being introduced to the British TV show on the BUS during her first month with the team. Unfortunately, the reveal of HYDRA, had cut them off partway through season four, and they had never started back up again. In which Fitz and Skye watch Doctor Who and there are Fitzsimmons feels. Not a fix-it. All the spoilers for the Doctor Who episode "The Lodger".


**This came about through Ftizsimmons feels and the need for everyone on the team to be happy after SOS happened. And from Doctor Who.**

 **Disclaimer: This story is full of spoilers for the episode "The Lodger" in season 5 of "New Who". I don't own Doctor Who, nor do I own anything to do with AOS.**

* * *

" _Work out what's really keeping you here, eh_?" –The Eleventh Doctor, _The Lodger_

" _Love has never been known for its rationality."_ –The Seventh Doctor, _Delta and the Bannerman_

* * *

Skye was laying on her bed in her bunk, staring at the blackness of her ceiling illuminated only by the green numbers of the clock on her bedside table that showed her it was almost 5 in the morning. It had been nearly an hour since she had been woken up by yet another nightmare and resigned herself to being awake, despite the early hour. Had it been only a month earlier, Skye would have been getting up for a five-thirty Tai Chi session with her SO, but the older agent was taking a well-deserved break, and even though Skye was awake, she wasn't about to get up. She had forgotten just how comfy the bed in her bunk was.

She blinked at the darkness above her as the clock changed to read 4:52 AM.

After a few long nights of little sleep after the whole fiasco with the Inhumans, Skye had discovered that she could feel the vibrations of each light that made up the numbers when they were lit, which meant she could tell what time it was without looking over at her clock. Unfortunately, it took a bit of concentration and most of the time it was easier to just glance over and read the time.

Her powers had grown a lot since she had returned to the Playground. She could feel different levels of vibration in speech that revealed people's emotions, which was both easier and harder than feeling the vibration of blood through someone's body that revealed when they were stressed or calm. Skye had also practiced vibrating various things around the base (something that irritated Hunter to no end), figuring out just how much force was needed to shake various compounds.

It was strange, she mused, just how accepting the rest of the team was of her powers. Nobody was giving her the side-eye like they had before she had gone to the cabin and the other SHIELD took over. Mack really appeared to have gotten past his mistrust of her, which was a blessed relief, and both Hunter and Fitz had taken to making as many "quake" or "shake" related puns as they couldnwhile she was around.

Even Simmons was starting to warm to the idea of the Inhumans, even though she wasn't any closer to understanding them through scientific methods. Or, at least, she _had_ been warming up to the idea, before she'd been eaten by the alien rock in their basement.

Skye sighed and rolled over to face the wall, rubbing her head on the pillow to find a comfortable spot.

It had been two very long days since the waves of the alien artifact had sucked up the biochemist, and tensions were high in the science department. The rock, or whatever it was, had apparently been blocking any scans from their equipment, and hadn't melted (or whatever it did) to show them that Simmons either was or wasn't inside. It was easily large enough to hold her, which meant there was a high likelihood she _was_ still there, inside it, but that brought up a whole host of other problems, such as where she was getting nourishment from, and _if_ she was getting any such thing.

Fitz had been telling her over lunch about a specialist they were thinking about bringing in, but he had soon drifted into technobabble about modifying a high-intensity scanner and Skye had lost him.

All she could do was hope that Simmons came back soon – she wasn't sure she could stand losing anyone else so shortly after her mother, her father, and Lincoln. She had though Lincoln would stick around, but he had requested some time away, to finish Med School and, in his own words, "figure out where to go next".

Skye was shaken from her thoughts by feeling the vibrations in the next room (Fitz's) move – get up, pause, and return to the bed.

That was one of the downsides she had found to her gift; feeling vibrations was like having another sense, and just like hearing or seeing something interesting drew one's attention away from a task, if Skye felt a stray vibration it was hard to ignore it. Of course, it _would_ be useful in any sort of mission – almost like a radar that kept her alert of what was going on around her.

A muted vibration Skye recognized as sounds coming through headphones started up in Fitz's room. She guessed it was Netflix, but she couldn't figure out what show or movie it could be.

She was trying to place a familiar sound, vibration, whatever, when she heard the faintly audible sounds of crying filter through the walls along with an intense wave of tremors that Skye had learned to associate with an increase in blood flow.

Worried, she jumped out of bed, catching sight of the clock showing 5:11 AM as she slipped a more opaque t-shirt over her head and hurried out of her room to the next. She knocked, but when he didn't answer she hesitated, biting her lip. What if he wanted to be alone? Had she been mistaken in coming over?

But only a moment later the vibrations in the headphones stopped and Fitz was heading to the door. It opened to show her a rumpled-looking Fitz, his eyes watery and a tablet held in the hand that wasn't grasping the doorknob, a pair of headphones running from the port to his ears.

He sniffed a little and blinked, tears running down his face, and Skye felt even worse for coming to call.

"Hey Fitz," she said awkwardly, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. "I just heard- _felt_ you crying, kind of, and I wanted to know if you were okay…"

She trailed off and almost immediately threw a mental punch at her brain. In what conceivable reality would Fitz be "okay" after thinking he was responsible for his best friend being swallowed by a rock? She, Coulson, and Hunter had told him multiple times it wasn't his fault for opening the sealed door – that it was an _accident_ – but he hadn't listened, beating himself up internally for his mistake.

His lack of an answer made the silence uncomfortable, and Skye tried to cover it up, maybe sneak back to her room and let him continue watching his tear-jerking mystery program alone.

"Sorry- I'm sorry," she mumbled, taking a step back. "I'll just- I'll just, go, yeah?"

"Don't!" Fitz croaked instantly, lunging forward to grab her arm. "Please, I can't be- could you- could you, maybe, stay?"

She tilted her head at him.

"I mean, I woke up and I needed to do _something_ , but Coulson wouldn't be happy if he found out I was in the lab so early, and the rest of the base is just, _empty_ \- I was just starting an episode of Doctor Who… Could you, maybe, join me?"

His eyes were wide and pleading, and Skye found herself nodding before fully realizing what she was agreeing to. Not that she wasn't open to watching it. She remembered being introduced to the British TV show on the BUS during her first month with the team when she'd found FitzSimmons watching an episode on the communal television.

Both of them (Simmons a bit more than Fitz) had been appalled that she didn't know about the alien "Doctor" and his adventures in space and time, and a fuss was made as they hurriedly switched the episode from one at the end of season six (where hot air balloons were flying over a high-tech looking train and pterodactyls filled the skies) to the beginning of season one of "the reboot", where she was introduced to a quirky protagonist and plain girl who had been thrown into the adventure of a lifetime.

Skye only later realized just how much her own story was like Rose's – a plain, rather boring existence that morphed into something so much more when she was taken away on a flying spaceship (or, in Skye's case, an airplane) – later on.

After that, the two enthusiastic Brits had invited her to every "Doctor Who night" they had, which was usually once a week or so, or whenever they had the evening off. The three of them had occasionally been joined by the rest of the team, and it had been a fun sort of tradition. Unfortunately, Skye getting shot by Quinn and the resulting join with Garrett, followed soon after by the reveal of HYDRA, had cut them off partway through season four, and they had never started back up again, what with Fitz's aphasia and Simmons going undercover for HYDRA.

Skye followed Fitz into his room, and joined him on his bed leaning against the headboard when he motioned for her to join him.

"One of the perks of having a room at the end of the hallway," he said, pulling the cord out of his ear and the port on the side of the tablet, "you don't always need to use headphones."

It was painfully obvious that he was trying to lighten the mood, but Skye went along with it.

"Sounds pretty nice, to be honest," she said. "I have to admit it's hard when May is usually sleeping one room down from you. And – let me make it clear – she is _the_ lightest sleeper on the planet."

That comment only earned her a small grin, but she felt proud anyway.

"So, what episode is this?" she asked, seeing a man in a tweed jacket lying on the ground in what looked like a park before Fitz dragged the Netflix bar back to the start of the episode. "I'm pretty sure I stopped part way through the season with Donna."

"You'd just finished the one with River and the Library- Forest of the Dead," Fitz affirmed, nodding, before he winced. "Ah. Not the best one to leave off at, was it?"

"Oh yeah, that one where the shadows could eat you?" Skye asked, vaguely remembering a story about a library that was a planet and a bunch of people stored like data in a computer. "Yeah, that one was a bit of a downer. Anyway, what episode is this one?"

"It's near the end of season five," Fitz said, twisting the headphone cord between his fingers. "With Amy Pond and the Eleventh Doctor. Neither of whom you've met. But this episode is more of a filler, so there's no plot details you're missing right now, at least, and you get to meet Craig and Sophie – it's a really good episode."

He said the last bit in a way that told Skye he was attempting to convince himself just as much, if not more, than he was trying to convince her of the episode's quality. She just pulled her legs up to her chest and looped her arms around them.

Shakily, Fitz reached out to press "play" and Skye instinctively shifted closer, pressing her shoulder up against his. He took a deep breath that, even though it was silent, Skye could feel through the vibration of air rushing in and out of his lungs.

Skye smiled at the first scene – the TARDIS fading into existence, the characteristic "whooshing" noise filling the air. An unfamiliar face poked it's head out from inside the blue doors, apparently the incarnation after the one David Tennant played.

All was fine for a few seconds, until the Doctor was thrown to the ground and the TARDIS disappeared, taking his companion, the red-haired Amy, with her. Skye's eyes widened and she glanced over at Fitz to see his eyes were closed and his face was tight. She slipped her hand into Fitz's, squeezing hard, and he returned the pressure, only blinking quickly and shaking his head before turning his focus back to the episode.

It started as many Doctor Who episodes had – with a hint of danger yet to come and something amusing to both lighten the mood and set the story. Skye saw a familiar scene in the way Sophie and Craig skirted around each other, Craig a bit awkward and Sophie oblivious, and chuckled inwardly. She let a laugh escape her when Craig burst from the front door of the building and said "I love you" to the Doctor's amused face, and out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a small smile appear on Fitz's face.

The familiar four-beat rhythm joined soon by the melody of the main Doctor Who theme kicked into life as the TARDIS rushed through the Time Vortex, and Skye experienced the new sensation of feeling the music as vibrations. It was about the same as if the sound was loud and the pulse of the bass rhythm would tremble in the air, but it was under her skin in a more intimate way, each note pulsing with its own intensity.

She would have to experiment with that in the future.

"Is a 'lodger' like a tenant, but British?" she asked Fitz as the TARDIS zoomed away and the names of the actors appeared.

"Yeah, it is," he replied with a laugh, and even though it was a bit watery it felt like old times – Skye questioning British lingo and FitzSimmons laughing at her ignorance.

The new Doctor grew on her faster than the tenth regeneration had, he ridiculously cheery persona the young-looking Time Lord displayed was so different and still so similar to the Tenth Doctor's bright and yet troubled demeanor. Skye found herself smiling more than she had over the past few weeks as he acted his typical alien self.

She shook her head at the banter, and allowed Fitz to tighten his grip on her hand when Amy showed up, only for the TARDIS to pull her away again.

"What's a gaff?" she asked, hearing another unfamiliar word.

"Like, it's like a mistake," Fitz explained, and she raised an eyebrow, confused about the word's usage, but passed it off as a 'Britishism'.

Skye laughed at the argument about bow-ties – something that had obviously been hashed out more than once – and the Eleventh Doctor's nonsensical but amusing personality. He was funny in his own way, alternating between seriousness and joviality, intelligent and practically incoherent in a matter of moments.

Skye found herself lost in the show, in the technical babble of the Doctor and the crazy story of some alien technology in the upper flat, and the "rot" leaking through the ceiling.

"Aw, seriously?" she found herself exclaiming as the Doctor popped up between the couple on the couch, Craig just about to confess his love. "His timing couldn't be worse!"

"Not like it's changed," Fitz pointed out with laugh at her interjection.

"True, very true."

They watched on, Skye letting small noises of laughter or exasperation or surprise escape as was called for, and Fitz watching the screen, moving only a little to shift his position every so often.

Skye's hand had fallen away from his, but it latched on when Sophie was drawn to the upstairs room, when there were just a few moments when the fear of whether the Doctor could actually save the day rose up. It was released when Sophie's hand met Craig's, only for Fitz's grip to tighten on _her_ hand as the couple babbled back and forth and finally kissed.

Skye felt the swell of emotion that was so similar to her own, even if he didn't let on to it other than the tightening of their linked hands, and knew they were thinking about the same person.

She pushed those thoughts away, and finished watching the episode, smiling at the happy ending, even if the scenes with Amy left her with a lot of questions, and Fitz paused the show before it played the trailer for the next episode.

"We get into the season finale next," he said by way of explanation. "And there's no way you're watching that now, not even the trailer for it, not after you've missed the whole first part of the season."

"Did it have something to do with that glowing crack thing?" she asked, shifting around to face him. "Or the ring? It _was_ an engagement ring, yeah? Oh my gosh – was the Doctor going to propose to her? Are they a thing?"

Fitz laughed out loud, the vibrations washing over her. "Oh no, not them. No. Amy and _Rory_ were going to get married."

"Rory? Was he in the episode?"

"No, he- he's not-" Fitz's gesturing hand stilled as he stared off pensively into nothing. "He was- It's a long story. You'll just have to watch it."

She sighed dramatically, but smiled. "Well, I did enjoy this episode. You were right, it was good."

Fitz didn't answer her, his gaze still fixed and blank, focused into the blackness of the room. "It's not as happy as I remembered," he said lowly, so Skye almost didn't hear him.

She didn't know what to say to that, so she waited, even as the silence dragged on uncomfortably long.

Fitz was the one to shatter the stillness. "We were going to go to dinner," he said distantly. "Jemma and I, before she… disappeared."

"Wait, you asked her out?" Skye asked without thinking. "No way! That's great!"

Then she realized exactly what he had meant, and her hearts sunk as quickly as the smile slid off her face.

"Sorry," she said, biting her lip. "Sorry, that was stupid."

Fitz shrugged his shoulders, and one hand rose to rub the back of his neck. "It's alright. I get it."

"We'll figure it out, Fitz," Skye said, leaning forward to grab hold of his fingers again. "Or, at least you guys will. I'm just along for the ride at this point, since none of my algorithms have come up with anything."

She had created some automatic programs to trawl through decades of computerized information for records of the stone, but even with access to SHIELD satellites and technology nothing had come from her search. The Inhumans had done a great job of keeping to themselves over the past few centuries.

Too good of a job in her opinion. Just _one_ mention of them and she could have come up with a lead they could follow.

Fitz nodded, "If we need any more computer support, we'll let you know."

"Thanks."

They sat together for a few moments, until Skye slid off the bed, pulling Fitz with her.

"Alright! Let's go get some breakfast. You want an omelet?"

"An omelet?"

"The Doctor made an omelet, and it's one of the few things I can actually make. And now that it's six in the morning, Coulson can't fault us for getting up, right? So I'm making omelets."

"You do realize that, by making omelets for us, you're going to have to make them for everyone on base," Fitz commented, pulling on his slippers.

"Only the people who are in the kitchen at six in the morning."

"Hunter's always up early nowadays."

"Then I'll make him an omelet!" Skye said, rolling her eyes. "Hey, Hunter's British, right?" she asked, stepping into the hallway and waiting for Fitz to follow.

"Yeah," Fitz replied slowly, closing the door to his room behind them as they started off to the kitchen.

"Would he want to join us for Doctor Who nights when Jemma gets back?"

"You don't even know if he likes Doctor Who," Fitz pointed out. "Not _every one of us_ likes Doctor Who. And he'd probably snark all the way through it."

Skye shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but we can always ask, right? And he'd be a laugh, with his lovely sarcasm and wit.

"Anyway, what would you like in your omelet?"

If she couldn't help them solve the problem of Jemma's disappearance, the least she could do was boost morale. And even if that meant making omelets for the team and dealing with Hunter's sardonic remarks as she cooked, she sure as hell was going to do it.

She'd do anything for her family to be happy.

 _fin_


End file.
